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Historical Background of SAMUN (South American Model United Nations) In 1989, the AASSA Principals' Association expressed interest in creating a regional MUN in South America . As a result, SAMUN I was held in November 1991. Under the direction of Irwin Stein, Colegio International de Caracas hosted the conference with 18 schools on the continent and Curacao . In its eleventh year, SAMUN, currently under the leadership of Carlos Fernandez and the Student officer team, and direction of Michael Relf, brings together 30 schools and about 400 delegates. The network of MUN in South America that has developed as a result of SAMUN is part of a global network of MUNers. Currently there are over 129,000 students worldwide, at both the secondary and university levels, who participate each year in a MUN conference. There are over 347 “major” MUNs held at various times during the year in North America , Europe , Africa , and Asia . SAMUN brought South America into this network. Considering the number and magnitude of today's international problems, disappointment and disbelieve leads to a desire to abandon to the struggle for a better world. However, over time there have been improvements both within and between societies, in creating awareness of and achieving widespread agreement on many international issues. Despite the turmoil and danger looming around, the modern world is slowly, and often painfully, evolving towards a worldwide standard of behavior achieving international concern and cooperation to be the “norm.” As MUN delegates choose between the dramatic and confrontational approach or the diplomatic and consensus-building approach in dealing with world problems, they should consider the nature of the issues facing them and the need to build a common future among the nations of the world. An MUN debate should be a form of negotiation in which all sides seek mutually beneficial results. Each delegate must work with the background knowledge of the issue, but without a script for the negotiation itself. Delegates must be able to respond quickly to questions and learn “to think on their feet.” The intense interaction, begun in the lobbying process and continued in formal debate, brings life to the issues for which delegates have formulated country positions. The educational value of this activity is hard to describe and impossible to measure. Each person gets out as much as he or she puts in. Only the individual can judge how much the program has enabled him to develop intellectually and to grow in wisdom. In the learning process, many skills are developed, but few are more important than the capacity for critical thinking. MUN students learn skills and attitudes and develop habits of mind, which see them well not only through their academic lives, but also into their lives beyond school. MUN students learn to seek mutually beneficial solutions, to use negotiation rather than confrontation, to be aware of and respectful of the will of the group, committee, or council, even when it differs from their own wishes, to build consensus for decision-making, to address themselves to the issue and to define its terms, to communicate clearly and precisely both orally and in writing, to avoid meaningless rhetoric and to have factual support for an argument, To hold to their moral and ethical principles (and, in simulation, the principles of the countries they represent) despite temptations to forgo these principles for private gain or public recognition. Finally, students who catch the “MUN Fever” learn what multiple perceptions are all about. One cannot truly succeed at MUN without the experience of seeing through someone else's eyes or walking in someone else's shoes. When Turk and Greek exchange positions, when Indian and Pakistani exchange perspectives, and when American and African view problems through the other's eyes, MUN has achieved its goal. The above information about the worldwide network of MUN, and other material was taken from Calendar of Model UN Conferences 2000-2001 published by the United Nations Association of the United States of America, 2000-2001 edition. History SAMUN I Year: 1991 Date: November SAMUN II Year: 1992 Date: November SAMUN III Year: 1993 Date: November SAMUN IV Year: 1994 Date: November SAMUN V Year: 1995 Date: November SAMUN VI Year: 1996 Date: November SAMUN VII Year: 1997 Date: November SAMUN VIII Year: 1998 Date: November SAMUN IX Year: 1999 Date: November SAMUN X Year: 2000 Date: November SAMUN XI Year: 2001 Date: November SAMUN XII Year: 2002 Date: November SAMUN XIV Year: 2003 Date: November 8-10